


bruised hearts

by fueledbymemes



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, High School AU, Hurt/Comfort, RuPaul's Drag Race - Freeform, Side Trixya, Smut, blowjobs(?), idk about the biadore but still?, kinda smut but not really since it's just a blowjob, lowercase intentional, pearl liaison/danny noriega | adore delano - Freeform, side biadore, trigger warning drug use, trigger warning parental death, well it's just mentioned but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 09:04:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19206205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fueledbymemes/pseuds/fueledbymemes
Summary: matt and adore used to be best friends. that was before adore's father passed, and her moving to california to live with her mom. from before they were born to age nine, they were best friends since their fathers worked together. they lived on the same street and went to the same school, they saw each other at family picnics, holiday parties, or when their dads would take their kid to work. it was a rough and sudden goodbye, and then they were off to the rest of their lives.





	bruised hearts

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: this is my work, also posted on @/artificialqueens on tumblr and wattpad. i've worked really hard on this! i'm working on another story rn and idk when it'll be ready due to my very bad procrastination. enjoy some adore x pearl but with a heterosexual twist lmao. yes, adore is a biological girl and pearl (matt) is a biological boy. hope you enjoy!
> 
> lowercase intentional

[flash back, nine years ago]

"do you have everything?" adore's mother asked. adore nodded, a sad look on her face. the moving truck was packed, her mom's car was packed, and they were ready to move from new york to azusa, california. 

"hold on." a younger adore said, only nine years old. she unbuckled and got out of the car. she saw matt approaching, and she was dreading saying goodbye to him the most. she felt her eyes start to tear up when she saw that he had been crying, who could blame him?

"matty.." she sniffled, immediately hugging him. "i'm sorry, i don't wanna go- but i have no choice." adore explained.

matt held the girl with his small arms, wanting to run his fingers through her brown hair, wanting to tell her how much she means to him, but he couldn't. "don't forget about me, adorable." he said, using a nickname that he had for her during a conversation about what her full name would be. 

"adore, we have to leave!" her mother called out to her.

adore pulled away from matt and wiped away her tears with the collar of her shirt. "i would never, matty." she said. she looked down at her hands and quickly took off her scrunchie. she handed it to matt and smiled sadly. "as long as you don't forget about me." she said. adore's mother beeped the horn and she turned around quickly, then looked at matt. "goodbye, matthew." she said and gave him a quick hug before turning around to run back to the car, leaving matt where he was. once she was in the car, her mom looked back and smiled.

"maybe you two will see each other again." she told her young one, trying to be hopeful.

adore nodded, "i hope." 

in that moment, the car took off and adore rolled down the window, waving goodbye to matt, who was already waving to her.

 

[current time, early september]

the word got around quick, there was going to be a new student at the school. it was a bit weird to start a new school for senior year, but it'll be fine. only half the kids remembered her, adore delano was moving back to new york. nobody was more excited than matt, and that's for sure.

"didn't you have a crush on her?" matt's close friend, kurtis asked. 

matt sighed, rolling his eyes. "yeah, i was eight though, it was nothing serious. i don't have crushes on people, people have crushes on me."

kurtis shook his head in disbelief, "is she gonna still wanna be your friend when she years all the rumors about you?"

matt scoffed, "that is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. there are no rumors about me."

"oh really? how about that you have over twenty bodies, you manipulate girls, you drink till you black out every weekend, all you do is get high, you sell drugs and stash the money in case you need hush-money, you roofie drinks at parties for fun, you-"

"okay, i get it!" matt said, cutting the other off before it got worse. "if she doesn't want to be associated with me, then i can't blame her." he said, having to accept the fact that maybe adore doesn't want to talk to him anymore.

"when's she even coming? you pay attention to what people say behind the scenes."

"tomorrow, they're making her come after first period so she doesn't get swarmed or confused or anything." 

kurtis nodded, "you gonna skip class to see her?" he asked.

"duh." matt answered.

 

[next day, tuesday]

"are you excited?" adore's mother, bonnie, asked. they moved into a different house, but on the same street. they both agreed to try and stay in the neighborhood. they had missed family and hated the hustle of driving or flying back over. 

"yeah, i fucking hate school." adore said in response.

"watch your mouth." bonnie warned.

"sorry mom." adore said and looked at the time on her phone. "we still have to find somewhere where i can sing."

"there's always open mics in the cafe downtown." she offered.

"no, i don't want an open mic. i actually wanna be booked." adore countered.

"we'll work on it." bonnie promised. "your hair is faded, you'll have to re-dye it soon."

adore looked at her hair, and agreed immediately. "yeah, i might let it fade into blonde. i don't know yet." she answered. "i like the faded half and half though, if i did pigtails i'd look like harley quinn."

"too bad your joker's at home, huh?"

adore nodded sadly, "yeah. i mean long distance works if you're determined. plus it's only for the rest of the school year, i think roy and i are gonna be fine."

bonnie got her keys from the counter and gestured for her daughter to follow her. "i'm sure it'll work out. let's go."

 

"she's not gonna come any quicker if you keep roaming the halls line you're in an insane asylum, matt." kurtis reminded, just spotting his friend. they cut class often together since they're the closest out of their friend group. "give it a break, let's go to the courtyard."

matt turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. "i talked to the guidance counselor. she said that i can be the one to give adore her papers and show her to her locker when she gets here since i'm never in class anyway. i have this thought out."

"don't get attached, you have a reputation." kurtis reminded and patted his shoulder before heading back to class, expecting matt to follow.

which of course, matt did follow. he hated this class, history. it was so boring and the teacher was monotone when she talked. kurtis opened the door for him and matt, and they both walked in the class.

"did you get busted for skipping?" the teacher asked sarcastically, in which matt rolled his eyes, about to give a snarky remark before kurtis chimed in to save his ass.

"no, we weren't skipping. we just had to finish a test." kurtis lied, glaring at matt.

matt huffed and slouched further in his seat. he got out a pencil and pretended to copy down the notes on the board. that lasted for a good ten minutes before the classroom phone rang. matt looked up in hope, please be adore. 

after the brief phone call and a few 'are you sure?'s from the teacher, she hung up the phone and looked at matt. "matthew lent, to the office." she said and pointed to the door. he got a bunch of 'ooo's from the class, but it wasn't anything new. he got up, mouthed "shut up," to kurtis, and left the classroom.

 

adore noticed how much bigger the high school was compared to the elementary. she's only been to the high school a few times. once for her cousin's graduation, and a few times for the school musicals or plays. she got directed to the office, where she made small talk with the secretaries about how she used to go to school here. not that long later, the main guidance councilor stepped into the office with no other than matt. adore turned around at the sound of the office door and gasped.

"hi, adorable." matt greeted, papers in his hand for adore- like her locker number and combination, class schedule, school calendar, school clubs, etc. 

adore squealed and ran over to matt, hugging him immediately. "oh my god, matt?!" she said excitedly, as if it were a question since it was so hard to believe. she pulled away from the hug and held his face, "matty, you're all grown up!" she said. jesus, puberty did him good.

matt smiled, hugging adore back. he didn't get bothered with adore's touchiness, she's always been that type of person. "yeah, look at you." he said, gesturing to her.

"oh, shut up." adore said and giggled, letting go of him. "i'm sorry," she said, a smile still permanent on her face as she apologized to the secretaries around her. which none of them minded, of course. 

the guidance worker had an amused smile, she's never seen matt that happy before. he always have to be stone-cold and seem all tough. "anyway, adore. matt heard that you were coming back and offered to greet you and quickly show you around. so i'll let you two go that way you'll get to class sooner." she said and waved to them both before going back to her office. "see you guys around."

matt and adore said bye and immediately turned to each other, breaking out into a smile. "follow me," matt said and started walking out to the hall.

adore caught up so she would be walking side-by-side with him. "did you miss me, matt?" she asked playfully, nudging his side.

"yes, of course i missed you. that's a stupid question." matt answered. in all honesty, how could he not? he's only been with her for ten minutes and she's already made an impact on him. she's such a charismatic person, there's nobody else like her in his life. he thought that he'd never see her again, and she'd just be a memory. 

"good, because i missed you too. when my mom told me that we were moving back to be close to family, one of the first things i thought of was if you were still around." adore said honestly. "how's senior year? we're about a month in so far." she pointed out. 

matt blanked at the question. kurtis had a point, she might not like matt now. he's flunking his classes due to his carelessness and only focuses on who's party he's going to this weekend and who he's gonna fuck around with for the night. "uh, good." he answered, nodding as he looked over to adore. "how about yours? even though it started in a different school."

"really good actually. my ap classes got transferred here and hopefully i can find my way into the top ten so i can get in a good college. i'm excited!" adore said. she looked at the papers in matt's hand and took them from him. "what clubs are you in?" she asked mindlessly as she looked over the paper with the school activities.

"none, actually. i like to actually go home after school." matt answered.

adore gasped and hit his arm with the papers. "matt, i know you have multiple talents. c'mon, there has to be something." she said.  
matt just shook his head, "nope, nothing. i mean, i'm in art, but i don't wanna be in the club. it's kinda-"

"matty, you gotta join art club!" adore said, cutting him off.

"i'm not, not in a million years." he said, stopping at a set of lockers. "yours is the second to last on the top, go crazy." he said and turned around to go back to class.

"um excuse me, you're staying with me." adore said and walked over to her locker with a chuckle. "do the combination for me," she said with a pout.

matt sighed, turning on his heel to take care of adore's needs. "you got everything you need, adore. you really want me to baby you?" he asked playfully as he took the locker paper so he could put in the combination for her.

"actually yes. i wouldn't mind that." she challenged, crossing her arms and holding her head high.

"okay, mick jagger." he responded playfully, gesturing to adore's dark red skinny jeans and classic rolling stones shirt.

adore scoffed, but nudged matt playfully as she broke into a smile. "at least i don't look like a basic white fuckboy." adore said and put her stuff into her locker.

matt inhaled dramatically, "ouch, that hurt." he said. "but it's okay, i'm a big boy now." 

adore chuckled as she looked at matt adoringly, "sure you are." she took a pen from her purse and wrote her combination down on her arm before closing her locker. "you should get back to class." she suggested.

matt shrugged, "i'll walk you to your class." he offered.

adore smiled, knowing damn well that she'd take that offer in a heartbeat. "yeah, of course." she played around with the pen in her hand as she walked beside matt. "do we have classes together?" she asked, handing matt her schedule so he could see.

matt read over the schedule and hummed. "we have the same lunch, the same chemistry, the same health, and the same study hall." he said and handed it to adore.

adore smiled, "good," she answered while taking back the papers. once they got to adore's classroom, she turned to face matt. "can i sit with you at lunch?"

matt nodded, "yeah of course. there might be a few people you don't know yet since they moved here after you left, but that's fine. i'll make sure they're friendly."

adore bit her lip and smiled to herself, her eyes sparkling as always, nodding as she took that in. "well i'll see you then?"

"'course," with that, matt spun on his heel to walk away.

"wait, matty!" adore said, gesturing him over when she got his attention again.

"yes, adorable?" he asked.

"don't lose touch with me." adore said and walked closer to matt, clicking the same pen from earlier and grabbing matt's arm. she wrote down her phone number in neat handwriting and smiled at matt. "do you drive?" she asked after putting the pen away in her purse.

"yeah," matt said while looking at adore's number. was.. was she hitting on him? "why?" he asked.

"because i need a ride home." adore answered. "okay, bye matty!" she said and knocked on the door to the classroom, and the teacher opened it within moments. adore gave a warm smile and walked into the classroom after winking at matt and disappearing from his sight.

 

[the same week, friday. 5:26 pm]

adore was asleep on the couch, a blanket on her lap, as well as her macbook. she hasn't even been at the school for a week, and she already has too much homework. that's senior year for ya.

bonnie passed adore and paused, smiling to herself while looking at her exhausted daughter. "she works herself too much." she whispered to nobody in particular. bonnie reached forward to take adore's laptop and set it on the coffee table. she saw adore's phone reveal itself since it was under the macbook, and of course, read the notifications. two missed calls from 'matty 😌✨' and one text from him, sent thirteen minutes ago. 

 

m: hey, i have a question. get back to me when u can, getting worried.

 

bonnie hummed to herself and went back to her journey to the kitchen, but there was a knock on the door. she glanced at adore, who hadn't been startled at all by it, and went to answer it. 

once the older woman answered the door, she was faced with a younger teen boy. "oh, hey matt. what brings you here?" bonnie asked.

"uh, i've just been trying to reach out to adore for like.. an hour maybe? she usually answers right away and i just wanted to come and see if she was okay since it's only a few minutes worth of a walk." matt explained, hoping she understood. 

"yeah, she's okay. she's just worn out from this week, so she's taking a nap in the living room." bonnie replied.

matt made a face in realization and gave an 'ohh' before speaking again. "okay, well. a few of her old friends and i are gonna throw a small 'welcome back' party for her tomorrow night. is that okay with you?"

"of course, i'm sure she'll love that," bonnie said back. she took a look at matt and thought to herself for a second or two. with how much these two hang out, she's surprised that they haven't liked each other. unless matt was gay or something. he doesn't seem like it. oh well.

matt's face lit up and he thanked bonnie. "thank you, mrs. noriega!" (adore's mom uses her maiden name, adore kept her dad's last name) "okay, i'll see you soon." 

"you too matt, just no cocaine or anything." bonnie warned half-heartedly.

"please, we both know that adore would never do cocaine," matt said and chuckled. "have a good night!" he said and made his way back to his house.

bonnie smiled fondly and closed the door, ending the night with that.

 

[the next night]

adore took her time while straightening her hair. she had another hour or so before she had to leave for matt's since it was a ten minute walk or so. she sang softly to the blink-182 song in the bathroom.

she finished her hair off, unplugging the straightener and grabbing her hair brush so she can brush out her hair out. adore looked in the mirror and sighed, smiling to herself and getting out her makeup bag to finish off her look.

 

"bye mom," adore said and hugged her mother, kissing her cheek. "i don't know if i'm staying the night yet, but i'll let you know." she promised.

bonnie hugged her back, "make good decisions!"

adore chuckled as she headed for the door, "always!" she said before slipping out the door and walking over to matt's house. it would've been pretty useless driving, considering that it'd take under a minute. she pulled out her phone to quickly text her friend.

 

a: hey i'm on my way. be there in ten  
m: you're like fifteen minutes late wtf  
a: your point?? i was talking to my mom about jobs  
m: that's fair  
a: yep, i'll see u there:)  
m: we're downstairs in the basement  
a: got it

 

adore arrived at matt's house and walked down his driveway. she knocked on the door, and matt's mother opened it, "oh, adore!" she exclaimed and let the girl in right away. mrs. lent hugged adore, and adore hugged back of course. "oh my goodness, look how grown up you are!"

adore chuckled, pulling away from the hug after a while. she hasn't seen matt's mother in years, matt and her haven't hung out outside of school yet other than him occasionally driving her home when she didn't want to drive herself. "hi, mrs. lent. you look so beautiful, i'm glad that i can see you."

matt's mother smiled sweetly, "oh, adore. you're such a sweetheart. matt is downstairs. a few others are down there, i hope you have a good night with your friends, honey."

adore waved and blew a kiss before going downstairs to matt's bedroom / living room. the downstairs was big and had two parts to it, which matt had to himself. she opened the door and went down the steps, and immediately everyone jumped up to greet her in unison.

adore squealed when she felt matt hug her first, picking her up from the ground and spinning her. "matty!" she yelped and held onto him, giggling once he put her down.

"glad you could finally make it," matt said with a smile, which adore easily returned.

adore looked up around the room to see everyone else who had come. kurtis, trixie, katya, violet, shane, and ben. "hi guys!" she said and stayed beside matt, giving him a side hug. 

everyone went back to hanging out, doing their own thing. adore leaned her head on matt's chest and pulled away after a few seconds, looking up at him. "matthew, you smell like weed." she said and hit his arm.

matt shrugged and patted adore's head. "your point?"

adore smiled and pushed his hand away playfully, "my point is that sharing is caring." she said. 

"oo, she's a bad girl now. she's a party girl, huh?" he teased.

"oh shut up, look who's talking. don't act like kurtis didn't expose you behind the scenes."

"well in that case, the party's just getting started."

 

everyone was doing their own thing. in the corner was trixie and katya- almost never apart. trixie was on her phone and katya was looking over her shoulder, playing with her girlfriend's hair. adore would've never thought to come back to those two completely different girls dating. 

on the other hand, kurtis, violet, shane, and ben were all sitting on the floor in a circle. they were passing around a bottle while kurtis was drunkenly flirting with violet, who wasn't falling for it- especially since they were friends and she wanted it to stay that way. 

and that left matt and adore on the couch, telling stories from their lives that they missed out on. matt has his arm around adore while he smoked a blunt. adore was a bit sleepy and worn out from the night, it being around one in the morning at this point. adore had no problem being cuddly with matt, hence why her head was comfortably resting on his chest.

"so yeah, that's how i found out that i'd be kicked off the football team," matt said, ending the story. he smiled when he heard adore's giggles, and he rubbed her shoulder softly. "you look tired, adorable. are you sure you don't want me to take you home or something?"

"i'm not tired!" adore argued, still smiling from the story. she sat up a bit, looking at matt to argue her case. "see? i'm good. i'm still weird from the time zone switch."

"ooh, sure. what time would it be back in azusa?" matt asked, giving an amused smile.

"five in the morning! cut me some slack, here. i'm trying my best. maybe you should just give me the rest of your blunt." adore said and snatched it from matt's fingers without waiting for an answer. she took a puff and blew it in matt's face, giving him a smile. "thanks, matty."

matt let the girl do as she pleased. it was nice having adore around again, she still radiates the same energy. "i wasn't finished with that, you know." he said, grabbing for it only to see that adore pulled her arm away.

"to bad so sad. if you want your pot that bad, then prove it." adore challenged.

"i can't, i gotta let you have it now. it's the right thing to do." matt said back.

"yeah, that's what i thought." adore said and sat back where she was, taking comfort in matt again as she finished off the last of the blunt. it was more than halfway gone away. 

"are you gonna go to homecoming? it's in two weeks." matt mentioned, putting his arm back around adore, who didn't seem to have a problem with it.

adore shrugged, "i don't know for sure, my mom and i are tight on money from the move. tickets are like fourty dollars and dress prices are around two-hundred to three-fifty." she explained.

"i have a job," matt said. "i mean, i'll help pay without a second thought. if it meant that you'd be able to come with your friends and everything." he offered.

adore's eyes widened, and not from the marijuana. "matt, that's fucking insane. you'd be paying for you and me. suits are like two-hundred dollars." she said. "it's fine, there's always prom and winter formals. it'll be fine-"

"-no adore, but i really want you to go. it'll be fine, i have a job and i already have everything paid on my part. i'll give you four-hundred and pay for your ticket on monday. it's no big deal, you'll just give the change back." matt said, giving adore sad eyes. "please, i missed out on all those other homecomings with you. i wanna see my best friend."

adore bit her lip, sighing and giving in with matt's expression. "okay okay, fine. when i get a job, i'm paying you back every penny."  
"i don't want the money back, so i won't be accepting it." matt said stubbornly. "you can give me the last hit on my blunt though, i'll accept that."

adore scoffed, rolling her eyes. "you're a bitch, matt." she said and sat up, looking at him with shimmering eyes. "i'll tell you what, we'll share." she offered and turned around so she'd be facing matt. she didn't necessarily sit on his lap, but that's basically what happened. she took a drag and threw the last of it in the ashtray, facing matt and grabbing his face to exhale the smoke in his mouth.

matt felt his heart skip a beat when adore pulled the 'shotgunning weed' trick out on him, but he accepted. he liked the feeling of her soft fingertips on his face, he liked seeing her half and half hair dangle from her head in the corner of his eye. he liked the feeling of her legs on either side of his legs. it felt like they've been leading each other on all night, and it came down to this moment. except it didn't happen. adore didn't end it with a kiss, she just pulled away. what?

adore plopped back down beside matt and tucked a side of hair behind her ear. nothing was awkward, she handled everything professionally. she just leaned her head back on matt's chest and continued the conversation like nothing happened.

like she wasn't just sitting on her lap, like she didn't grab his face ever so gently. like their lips weren't less than an inch apart and she pulled away before matt had an opportunity to kiss her. like.. nothing happened.

"so who's all staying the night?" adore asked, crossing her legs so one leg would be closer to matt's direction. 

matt cleared his throat before speaking up, "uh, i don't know." he said, looking around the room. "trixie's falling asleep, so katya's gonna take her home soon. shane and ben don't usually stay past three. the only people who really stick around are kurtis and violet."

adore nodded, "gotcha."

matt looked around for the first time in a while, only to see kurtis from across the room trying to get his attention. 'what?' matt lip synced.

'i saw you and adore!' kurtis lipped back, pointing between matt and adore to prove his point.

matt shook his head, 'we didn't kiss, it's fine.'

'surreeee,' kurtis responded and rolled his eyes, looking back to his group and holding up the empty bottle in success. it was already about halfway done when they started their work, and now they could play spin the bottle.

after a bit, adore and matt got greeted with trixie and katya saying goodbye. adore smiled and stood up, hugging the two individually. "it was nice seeing you guys," adore said, pulling away and waving at the two. "don't be strangers, text me or something."

"for sure," trixie said, which katya easily agreed with. they both waved back at adore, then waved at matt before making their way out.

before adore could sit back down, violet approached her. "hey, uh, i need help." she said and glanced at kurtis, who encouraged her.

adore's expression softened, and she put a hand on violet's shoulder softly. "okay, what's wrong? is it anything i can help with?" she asked worriedly.

"my.. necklace!" violet said, glancing at kurtis again who encouraged her more. "i think i lost it or something, can you help me check my car?" she asked.

"yeah, of course. c'mon let's go," adore said and didn't hesitate to go outside with violet, disappearing within seconds.

in that moment, kurtis got up from the ground and went over to matt, "i had to get rid of adore real quick, sorry man. we gotta do something about the tension between you two. maybe spin the bottle or truth or dare? something to get you two have a moment." 

matt was overwhelmed with how fast kurtis could transfer from one part of the room to the next, but he digested what kurtis was telling him easily. "listen man, i appreciate that. i don't know, it seems stupid. she would've kissed me if she had interest, i know her. she's bold, she does whatever the hell she wants."

"matt, be serious for a second. she's probably just trying to start out small. i watch her body language every time you two talk. whether it's at lunch, in class, hanging out- anything. she's so witty and doesn't hold back. we'll just ask her if she wants to play spin the bottle, how does that sound?" kurtis reasoned.

matt heaved a sigh, shaking his head while thinking. "okay, okay. fine. but if-"

"we found my necklace!" violet announced as she stepped into the door with adore following. 

"oh, that's good!" kurtis said, "just in time, we were about to play spin the bottle. adore, do you wanna join?" 

adore shook her head, but smiled sympathetically. "i would love to, but i can't. i have a boyfriend back in azusa." she said and sat on the couch.

everyone in the room went silent, they were all on board with trying to get them together, this was new news. adore noticed the change of atmosphere, seeing all the either shocked or upset expressions. "oh, i thought i told you guys?" adore said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"no-" kurtis started, but matt was quick to cut him off.

"no you didn't, but it's fine! shane's talking to someone, so he probably won't be playing either." matt said, quick to cover his actual emotions up. and that was the end of the actual part of the night.

 

ben and shane left after a while, leaving violet, kurtis, matt, and adore- as predicted. adore was visibly tired, she looked absolutely exhausted. 

violet was going to sleep upstairs in the family living room. she usually does, so kurtis and matt can have 'boy time'. that leaves kurtis to sleep on matt's couch outside his room. matt usually sleeps in his bed, but he was gonna offer that to adore. instead, he'd probably sleep on the floor in his living room. 

adore was in the same spot on the couch she'd been almost all night. she played truth or dare with them, and now it was past five in the morning. adore was practically falling asleep on the couch.

"someone's gotta take care of sleeping beauty," violet said, then both her and kurtis turned their heads to look at matt.

"what?" matt asked.

"you know what. just take adore to bed, she won't bite you." kurtis said.

adore opened her eyes when she heard her name spoken. "i hear you guys," she called out, sitting up and looking at the group. "i want matt to take me anyway," she said and got up, walking over to matt and hugging him, finding comfort in his soft shirt that smelled like his cologne. 

matt hugged her back and bit the insides of his cheeks so he could prevent the stupid smile that was about to creep on his lips. he looked down at adore and swept the hair from falling in her face. "i can't take you to bed if you fall asleep on me. i'm not that strong, adore." he reminded.

"nah, i bet you are," adore said and looked up at matt, smiling at him sweetly. she pulled away from the hug and walked to matt's room. "give me something to sleep in, matty." she said, expecting him to follow.

matt looked behind him, seeing violet and kurtis smirking at him. "oh, shut up." he whispered. "i'll be out sooner or later. you guys know where to go." he said and went to his room with adore.

when matt walked in, he smiled when he saw adore walking around, looking at everything new that she hasn't seen before. he had a collage of pictures on his wall around the big words 'family'. new and old pictures. most of which with his current friend group in different places or him and his mom. there were a few different ones. like when he was a kid and he was at disney, or when he was at a family member's wedding. but there were two that stood out. 

there was one from eleven years ago. matt was six and adore was seven. it was at bring-your-kid-to-work day. adore and matt with their dads. the other one was at one of matt's family picnics. adore and her parents were invited over. the picture was was of all the kids who went- mostly his cousins. though in the picture, adore and matt were hugging each other, laughing about something while looking at the camera.

adore smiled fondly, looking at matt. "you never forgot, huh?" she said and chuckled, sitting down on matt's bed. she went silent for a while, so matt sat next to her. adore leaned her head on his shoulder and looked down. "matt, i didn't see your dad when i came here." she pointed out.

"i know," matt said, running his fingers through adore's hair. "they got a divorce about four years ago i think? i still see him sometimes, but him and my mom argued a lot. about a year or two after you left it started. i wanted to stay here in the end." he explained. "it sucks, but it's whatever."

adore pulled away and looked at matt, an empathetic look on her face. "matt, if anyone knows what it's like to lose your dad, it's me. my mom had a mid life crisis and made a last minute move to get out of this 'bad luck town'. you know the rest." she said and put a hand on matt's cheek. "it'll be okay, you know that right? i mean, you can still see your dad if you wanted to, i know our stories aren't the exact same- but besides the point." she said.

matt nodded, smiling at how concerned adore got. "hey, it's okay. see, i'm just fine and so is my mom." he said and patted adore's shoulder before standing up. "if i give you a hoodie would i get it back?"

adore chuckled and shook her head, "nope, that's not how girls work." she said. "you're better off giving me a shirt or something."   
"fair enough," matt said and got a random t-shirt that looked big, even for him, and threw it to adore. she caught it and looked kinda proud of herself, it was pretty cute. 

"stay here, i'm not done talking to you." adore said and got up to go to matt's bathroom, leaving him in his room.

not long after, adore came back with what could be a nightgown. she threw her clothes on the ground and sat on matt's bed again, smiling when she saw that matt stayed put. "am i sleeping in your bed?" she asked and got under the covers instead of waiting for an answer.

"duh," matt answered, getting off the bed so she could get comfortable.

adore pouted and sat up, holding out her hand for matt. "matty, i thought you were gonna stay with me," she said and pulled a sad face.

"adore you have a boyfriend," matt said and chuckled at her attempt to get him to stay, going for the door anyway.

adore whined, "your point? as long as i don't go and make out or fuck anyone else, he said that he doesn't care what i do!" she said. "please, i wanna cuddle and you're warm and make me feel safe and you're the only one i let be all cuddly with me." she begged.

matt turned around and sighed, "okay fine." he gave in and turned off his light. "tv on or off?" he asked, grabbing the remote on his dresser in case she said on.

"on, put on south park." adore said.

matt followed her suggestion and did as she wanted, turning the volume of the tv down before going to his bed so he could humor adore. "happy now, princess?" he asked.

adore nodded and adjusted herself so she could be closer to matt, glancing up at the tv. "thank you matty, i love you."

matt put an arm around her and rubbed her back softly to comfort her. "yeah yeah, i love you too." he said and exhaled softly when adore used his chest as her pillow. 

it wasn't long for adore to fall asleep peacefully, happy with the physical attention she was receiving from her favorite person. matt wasn't gonna lie, he was glad that adore trusted him this much. he did love her a lot. at the end of the day, she was his best friend.

 

[the next week, tuesday. after school]

adore was in the mall with matt and katya, who were gonna help her pick out a good homecoming dress. matt and her were going together, something that they both thought would be cute for pictures and so they had someone to dance with. 

adore came out of the dressing room in a dark red dress with even darker red flowers on it, about mid thigh length and strapless. "i don't like it." adore whined.

"well no shit, it looks retarded with your hair, look for a black dress, i think that's look nicer." katya said, giving the best advice she could.

adore nodded, "i mean i plan on keeping my hair like this. unless i have a mental breakdown and decide to dye it again." she said and chuckled. 

"good idea. stay here and matt and i are gonna look for better dresses, okay?" katya said and smiled sweetly, walking away with matt back to the homecoming dresses.

katya stood beside matt as she looked on the racks. "you know matt, long distance never works for anyone." she said, knowing that matt's been pretty upset ever since finding out about adore's boyfriend.

"well it's working right now, and that's my problem." matt said, letting katya look for dresses since she knows what girls like. "it's fine, as long as she's happy, i'm happy."

katya chuckled, shaking her head. she bit her tongue and refrained from saying anything, just focusing on finding complimenting dresses.

"what?" matt demanded, he knew that katya was thinking something.

"nothing, it's just that you're matt lent. you're a partier, you leave girls crying because you don't love them back or because they wanted more than a one night stand. yet here you are longing after your childhood best friend. it's weird man, i forgot you had emotions." katya said and picked out a lavender purple dress and a black dress. 

"i have emotions, what the hell katya." matt said, quick to defend himself. he seemed a bit offended so he could maybe make katya feel guilty.

"matt, let's be realistic." she said and patted his shoulder, handing the dresses to him. "okay, tell her you picked these out. it'll make her more impressed with you," katya suggested.

matt took the dresses, kinda confused, but he took them anyway. "you're insane, katya." he said, walking back with katya following behind him.

adore smiled when she saw matt with the dresses, "oo, did you pick those out for me?" she asked, perking up and going to stand in front of him.

matt smiled fondly, "yeah, i guess i did," he answered and glanced back at katya, who was giving him a supportive smile.

"you're so cute, give me!" adore squealed and took the two dresses before going back into the dressing room without waiting for matt's response.

katya smirked and elbowed matt, "you hear that? you're so cute." she whispered to him.

"shut up, she didn't mean it like that. she has a boyfriend, katya." matt whispered back, rolling his eyes.

after a minute or so, adore came out with the purple dress. it was a light purple silk dress with the back part of the skirt longer than the front. she moved her long hair over her shoulder and stood in front of matt, her back facing him. "zip me up, matty." adore requested.

matt bit his lip and glanced at katya, who was signaling him to 'fucking do it' like he was stupid. he stopped stalling and zipped up the back of adore's dress for her.

adore turned around and smiled, making sure to twirl just enough for the skirt to puff out. "i like this one," she commented, looking to katya first. "thoughts?"

"i think it really compliments the lighter shade of your hair. you look really nice, it gives the sweetheart look." katya said, and it only fueled adore's happiness.

"matt?" adore asked, spinning over to her best friend to get the second opinion that she wants.

matt's cheeks blushed a bit, nothing too noticeable. he wanted to tell adore how beautiful she was, how she always looks. he wouldn't though, knowing him. "i uh- um. i just- i really think you look nice." he concluded. his eyes quickly studied adore's form before meeting her eyes again.

adore huffed, walking back to the dressing room. "we're friends, matt. stop being so fucking afraid of me." she said and closed the door so she could change into her next dress.

katya glared at matt, "girls can read you easily. adore seems pretty pissed that you're so intimidated by her boyfriend. you don't even know his name. it's causing you to distance yourself. cut it the fuck out, matt. long distance never works, adore's boyfriend isn't here. she wasn't afraid to get too close the other day, why would that change now? snap the hell out of it, matthew." she whisper-yelled, lecturing matt like he was a kid.

matt crosses his arms and looked away, acting like a kid so he didn't have to admit that katya was right. he'll just have to prove her wrong now.

when adore steps out of the dressing room in her next dress, matt feels his stomach drop. she looked better than she did in any of the other dresses. this dress was black and had off-shoulder sleeves. the bottom skirt almost seemed layered, which kept it a formal dance dress. the top was a lower cut, which gave adore some cleavage. she looked much more confident in this dress, which goes to show her personal style. adore glanced at matt, but walked to katya instead to have her zip up the rest of the dress.

once adore was situated, she looked at the two and smiled, biting her lip. "so, what are the thoughts?" she asked and twirled just a little bit.

"you look beautiful," matt said immediately, cutting off the words that didn't leave katya's mouth yet. he wanted to be the first to say anything, plus he wanted to prove katya wrong. "seriously though, you look gorgeous. i like this dress a lot."

adore smiled, her eyes sparkling as she made eye contact with matt. "thank you, matt." she said sincerely, really meaning it. 

katya smirked, giving matt a knowing look. "i mean i can't disagree with matt here, you really do look gorgeous. i really think this is the one, it suits you the most."

adore squealed happily, "you think?" she asked.

"oh, we know." katya answered. "matt's lucky that he gets to be your date."

matt nodded, looking at adore with a small smile. "i mean, i can't disagree with that." he said, uncrossing his arms.

"yay!" adore squealed again and ran to matt, hugging him unexpectedly. "i want this dress, thank you for taking me shopping." she said and looked up at matt. 

matt chuckled and hugged her back, "now go change so i can take you and katya home." he said, and adore turned around to change back into her normal clothes, leaving matt and katya again.

"she's too energetic," katya deadpanned, glancing at matt. "i'm tired just spending an afternoon with her."

"yeah?" matt asked.

"yeah." katya confirmed.

"well i'm not," matt said, looking at katya and smiling.

 

[friday morning, adore's birthday]

matt picked adore up every morning before school as a tradition they started. it gave them more time to talk and more time together in general. he parked the car outside her house and got out his phone to text her that he was here.

before he send the text, adore swung the front door open and giddily ran to matt's car. the moment she got in, she got a hug from matt. "happy eighteenth birthday, adorable!" matt greeted.

adore giggled and hugged him back, "thank you matty," she answered and pulled away, setting her hands on her lap. "i'm legally an adult!" she exclaimed.

"yes you are," matt answered, pulling out a gift bag. "here, there's two things inside. open the rectangle box first." he ordered.  
"oh, matt. i told you to not give me-" adore started, looking at him with puppy eyes.

"-so? you're my best friend. open it." matt demanded.

adore huffed and rolled her eyes playfully. she opened the bag and pulled out the small, rectangular box. it wasn't wrapped, but who cares? adore opened the lid carefully, which revealed a silver heart necklace. the heart was a small locket and she 'aww'd, looking at matt, who only encouraged her on. adore opened the locket and saw it was the picture of them as kids at work with their dads, the same one that she saw on his wall. "oh my god, matt. you're gonna make me cry." she said and sniffled, looking at him with teary eyes and leaning over to hug him.

"no not yet, open the square box now." matt said and leaned further from adore so he could watch her unbox her last gift.

adore reached further into the bag and got out the small box, looking at it and raising an eyebrow at matt. "what do you got up your sleeve..?" she asked and put her attention back on the gift she was about to open. she lifted the lid of the square box and gasped, looking away and covering her eyes with her hands to prevent tears. "maatttt.." she whined and leaned over to lean on him. adore took a deep breath and sat up, picking up the box again and taking out what was in it. 

it was her old scrunchie that she had given to matt moments before her and her mother left for california. the color was a bit faded, but still. she looked at matt and pouted, "you're such a softie for me," she pointed out and leaned over to hug him, which matt reciprocated immediately.

"yeah i guess, just don't tell." matt joked as he held adore. "i kept it in my mom's jewelry box so my dumb ass wouldn't lose it." he said and chuckled. "i hope this day is special for you."

"it already is," adore said and pulled away, slipping the scrunchie onto her wrist just because. "alright, there's too many emotions. just drive already." she said and chuckled.

"whatever the princess wants," matt joked and started the car again before taking off to the school. 

while he was driving, adore pulled out the necklace again and put it on, opening the locket to look at the picture before closing it again and putting it under her shirt so nobody would bombard her with questions. "my mom told me that she has an extra surprise for me when i get home later." she said.

"yeah?" matt asked, still focusing on the road. "after school, we're taking you out for dinner." he reminded.

"i know. then you guys are coming over afterwards for a small party. we've been over this." adore said with a chuckle, playing with her hair. "then you and violet are spending the night since my mom said i'm too chaotic and i can only let you and someone else stay over."

"i guess you're right," matt replied with an amused smile on his face.

 

the school day was pretty slow. adore got a few birthday wishes by some other students, but her friends made sure to make her as happy as possible. 

luckily they were at a diner to treat adore all nice and special for her birthday. it was nice. adore hadn't had any day this good in a long ass time. she was glad she had such good people in her life.

after everyone joked around since they had finished eating, they had something for adore, a group present. everyone pitched in with the help- trixie, katya, violet, matt, shane, ben, and even kurtis (since he's newer to the friend group).

"okay, so we all have something for you, adore." violet said, and everyone gave knowing looks.

adore sighed, accepting the fact that they'd go against what she told everyone and give her something instead. "okay, spill it then." she said, smirking challengingly.

"well, we heard that you've been trying to be booked for a show in that family cafe downtown," violet continued. "so we got you in for next month. you got two shows in october, so you're off to a good start!" she exclaimed.

adore looked shocked and she put her hand over her mouth, not knowing if she should cry, smile, or be shocked. "guys.." she said and put her hand over her heart. "i'm gonna cry again," she said and chuckled. "thank you guys so much, oh my god." adore said, wanting to pour her heart out.

"but wait, there's more." katya announced, and everyone looked at her and trixie, of course knowing the plan.

adore glanced around and reached over to hold matt's hand or a moment or so, hoping that it could prevent her heart from exploding from the love overload.

"so as you all know, my grandfather owns a professional music store," trixie started and smiled. "and if you're gonna be preforming, you gotta do it in style." she said. "everyone pitched in some money and helped get you something extra." she said. pulling something from under the table that she snuck in before adore and matt got there.

trixie revealed a takamine wine-red acoustic guitar with a big bow on it, passing it down the table so adore could have it.

"aww, guys." adore said and wiped her eyes to stop the tears from falling out, even if it was inevitable. "get up and everyone hug me, you idiots." she said and stood up, going to hug everyone individually.

adore was beyond thankful and happy, she knew that the night couldn't get any better. "okay, now who's ready for cheap beer and cake?!" she asked, and everyone rejoiced. 

the small group poured out of the diner together so they could make a final stop at adore's house. adore followed matt out and once they got to his car, she hugged him before he got the chance of getting in yet. adore took a deep breath to inhale the calming scent of matt's cologne. "i really love you matt, you and everyone else really are making my day so much better than i could ever wish for. thank you." she said softly.

matt hugged her back with a smile, playing with her hair. "we just wanted to give back all the smiles that you give us. you deserve a good day, really." he said. "now let's go, we gotta get you to your house."

upon arrival, adore and matt were the last ones to get to adore's house. everyone was waiting for them though, not even getting out of their cars yet. once adore and matt got out, the chain reaction started as everyone gathered around adore, since it was her house after all.

"let's get this party started!" adore cheered and walked up the steps of her porch to get in her house with everyone following behind her. adore twisted the handle to her door, but it was locked. she tried rattling it, but it was a miss. she turned around and looked at everyone. "i didn't bring my keys since matt drove me." she informed.

"it's okay, we can wait-" ben started, but shut his mouth when he saw the door open, seeing adore's mom.

"oh, hi guys! come on in." bonnie greeted, letting adore and her friends in. "go and sit at the kitchen table real quick, i have something for adore." she shared. 

everyone of course followed the orders, there wasn't a soul that didn't love bonnie in that group. once they were all settled, bonnie finally decided to share her surprise. "so i have a special gift for adore," bonnie said.

"we all do!" kurtis said, causing everyone to chuckle.

"anyway." bonnie said, smiling with the kids. "i flew someone special out to see you adore," she informed.

adore's face lit up, "mom you didn't-" she said, but got cut off by someone walking out into the kitchen with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. adore looked up, only to see her boyfriend from back in azusa right in front of her. "roy!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat to see the guy she misses oh-so-much. she hugged him and 'roy' hugged her back, smiling happily.

"roy?" matt asked, his face turning white. he looked at the group, who had apologetic looks on their faces.

"hey it's okay, none of us knew." katya said in hopes to comfort matt.

matt felt his heart drop to his stomach as he looked up to see the happy couple right in front of him. with adore reaching up to kiss her boyfriend, that was it. his skin felt hot with jealousy and his blood boiled in anger. "fuck this, i'm smoking outside." he said and got up, leaving everyone behind so he could blow off steam by himself. even if it meant leaving adore behind.

"matt, done be like that." kurtis said, turning around while he watched his own friend leave everyone behind. he sighed and stood up, but violet shook her head and touched his arm to keep his attention.

"let him be pissed now, it's for the better. then maybe later he won't want to kill anyone." violet reasoned, which made kurtis just sit right back down.

"it's probably for the better to let him be alone. i don't even think he'd wanna talk to adore." ben commented.

"well come on, put yourself in matt's shoes. would you wanna talk to adore after you spent the whole day pouring your heart out to her, only to have her leave your side in less than a second to be with some other guy?" shane reasoned.

"but that other guy happens to be her boyfriend, guys. matt should've saw it coming, i warned him about scenarios like this." trixie said, sighing. "oh well, it is what it is." 

adore made her way over to the table, grinning ear-to-ear. "hey guys, this is my boyfriend roy. and-" she started, looking around. her smile faded quickly when she saw the absence of her best friend. "where's matty?" she asked in a saddened voice.

"he went outside, uh- he got a phone call." katya said on the top of her head to cover for him. "he should be back. and if he isn't then i'll get him."

"oh," adore said, pouting as she held roy's arm. "well anyway. roy, this is kurtis, shane, ben, katya, and trixie!" she said, going down the table so it'd be easier. "matt's outside, he's the one i've told you about."

roy smiled and waved at the unfamiliar faces yet familiar names. "it's fine, i've got all night to see him, right?" he said to look on the bright side.

"right!" adore beamed happily.

 

wrong, actually. all the teens have been hanging out up in adore's room for the past fifteen minutes and there's still been no sign of matt anywhere. everyone's been getting along perfectly, which was all adore wanted. everyone seemed happy, everyone seemed to be having a good time.

it showed that adore was a bit upset that she couldn't be making memories with matt at her side. she sighed and crossed her arms, which made roy draw his attention towards her. "you okay, baby?" he asked.

"peachy," adore said and forced a smile. her tone was obviously passive aggressive, which worried the people around her. she kissed roy's cheek and got up. "i'll be back, don't wait up for me." she called before leaving the room.

roy looked back to the group, who all seemed to know what was going on. "she okay?" 

"yeah, she's fine." violet answered quickly. "anyway, kurtis didn't finish his story of being chased by a chicken. please continue." she said, changing the subject easily.

 

adore opened her front door and saw matt smoking while sitting on the steps of her porch. "matthew, get the hell up." she ordered, and anyone would know to not mess with her from the small bite in her voice.

matt stubbed out his cigarette and stood up, walking to adore. "what's wrong?" he asked worriedly, putting his hand on her arm to make sure she was okay.

adore pushed his hand away and crossed her arms. "you've been out here for over twenty minutes now. who the hell called you that was this important to leave me behind and forget about?" 

"i wasn't on the phone, who told you that?" matt asked.

"katya?" adore answered.

"well that was a lie. i just needed some fresh air, i'm okay." 

"you might be okay, but i'm not! you were so close to me all day and made me feel so happy, but the moment roy gets in the picture, i'm not good enough? are you jealous of him or something, matt?" adore asked, getting more and more frustrated as the words leave her mouth.

"no, it's not like that, adore. i'm just-"

"-i don't care. look, i'm sorry for yelling. just please come back inside, i really want you to meet roy and i really wanna see my best friend." adore pleaded, pouting as she uncrossed her arms to hold matt's hand, tugging on it.

"okay fine," matt said and smiled, he couldn't help it. 

adore sighed in relief and let go of his hand to walk inside, knowing matt would follow behind her.

 

adore opened her bedroom door, walking in on everyone laughing with each other. "hi guys! look who i brought back from the dead!" she joked and pushed matt in first before walking in, closing the door behind her.

adore took her place next to roy, who put his hand on her thigh the moment she sat down. she smiled and nudged him playfully before joining the conversation.

matt looked at roy's hand and felt sick. he didn't like it, he wanted to be the one who was able to have adore. he took a deep breath, changing his mind state. if adore was happy then he was happy. he lifted his gaze to get a better look at what roy looked like, only to notice that roy was already staring him down. matt swallowed thickly and smiled at roy before adverting his gaze somewhere else. roy just raised an eyebrow and shrugged it off.

matt ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, looking at the people around him. these were his friends, it's okay. just one stranger.

 

by the end-ish of the night, everyone had already gone back home. which left matt, violet, and roy in adore's room. it was quieter, which was nice. 

"i'm just really happy that everyone seemed to get along," adore concluded. she was on her bed with roy, who had an arm around her. violet was at adore's desk chair, spinning back and fourth to entertain herself. which left matt sitting on the ground with his back leaning on the wall. he wouldn't complain, it was nice. he got a better view of the room.

"what? you thought we would fight?" violet asked disbelievingly. "roy's probably one of the most easy going guys i've met. you guys were practically made for each other." she continued, looking over at roy. "you're one cool motherfucker, roy. we like you."

roy chuckled, "wow thanks." he said. "adore seems to attract the same type of people. you guys reminded me of our group back home." he said honestly.

matt nodded, even though roy had annoyed him all night by his existence, he had to admit that he was an easy person to talk to. "yeah man, you're funny as hell. good for you, almost nobody can get kurtis to laugh." he said, looking at violet. "i mean or violet, she's a stone cold bitch."

"hey!" violet snapped, "i'm not even that bad anymore." she defended.

everyone laughed together, just enjoying each other's company. which was a stretch, matt wouldn't completely agree with that statement. but hey, it's life.

"i don't have any extra places for you guys to sleep, so violet and matt are gonna have to sleep in the living room." adore said, playing with the scrunchie on her wrist as she talked.

"wanna watch a movie before we part ways?" matt asked, wanting to take advantage of being in the same room as adore. plus if it stalled adore and roy from having sex, he'd play that card.

"hell yes!" adore said and grabbed her tv remote, handing it to roy. "you pick, love." she offered.

"oh, me?" roy asked and pretended to be all touched that adore picked him. he went through what was on to see what caught anyone's eye.

"well that's a nice call, but i'm tired as hell, so i think that i'm gonna crash downstairs now." violet said and got up, mentioning towards the chair for matt. "see you losers in the morning," she said and headed for the door.

"goodnight vi!" adore called out, letting her friend catch up on rest. "and then there were three." she said and smiled happily. "it's okay, i'm glad that you guys got to meet, you two are my favorite people. i love you both so much!" adore gushed.

matt raised an eyebrow, getting up to go to violet's abandoned chair. "i love you too, i hope you had a good birthday."

"i did," adore said and exhaled calmly, leaning her head on roy, who just made his grip on her waist a bit more firm. 

roy kept silent, knowing that adore knew his feelings toward her. he put on some comedy movie and gave the remote to adore, who threw it over on her night stand instead. she melted back in roy's arms.

it may have been dim in the room, but matt knew what he was going on. he rolled his eyes and ignored how his heart felt empty when he saw how happy adore was with that loon. 

the room seemed to easily silence as the movie went on. adore began to feel her eyelids feel heavier as the time went on, but she didn't want to give in just yet. this was rare, being with her favorite boys.

she was scared that they'd argue. adore wasn't that stupid, and she started to grow skeptical of if matt looked at her as just a friend. it was okay, and she'd keep silent about it. she wasn't weirded out by anything.

on the other hand, she knew how protective roy was of her. adore remembered how he had once got suspended for almost picking a fight with one of the school's biggest fuckboys who was trying to get in adore's pants.

 

[about a year ago]

"so i heard from someone that you talked to adore recently." roy said, slamming chris crocker's locker shut in front of him.   
chris rolled his eyes at roy's attempt to seem all big and strong. "listen, we all know that your precious adore isn't gonna stick with you forever. she deserves someone better." he said, giving a petty smirk.

roy fake laughed, "yeah, funny. i want you to delete her fucking number. she's just fine without you and she doesn't want your constant cat-calls."

"and what if i don't wanna do what you say? what if i text her right now?" chris asked and pulled out his phone, waving it in roy's face tauntingly.

roy snatched his phone and threw it across the hall, looking at chris square in the face and spitting on him.

chris was about to yell before he got spat on, scoffing and taking a step back, wiping his face. "you know what, haylock? i'm gonna beat your fucking ass." he said and took a step forward.

someone in the hall yelled 'fight!' which caught the attention of many students- including the teachers though, and including adore.  
adore ran up to the scene and pulled roy back by the collar of his shirt, "babe, what did you do?" she asked, but the teachers came to break apart everyone before an actual fight happened.

"all of you, office." a teacher strictly said.

"no, adore didn't do anything. she came to break it up, i promise." roy said, getting her out of trouble.

the same teacher raised an eyebrow, looking at adore's innocent face. "okay fine, now everyone else, go to class!"

 

once the credits started rolling for the movie, roy looked down at adore, who was fast asleep. he shook her a bit, but she stayed asleep.   
matt got up, taking the silence as a sign that he should leave. "well, goodnight-"

"matt, i know you like adore," roy told him, his eyes narrowing at the other teen in front of him. "adore told me that you're going to homecoming with her next week too? if you know what's good for you, i'll suggest that you know your fucking boundaries. she wouldn't want to be with a self absorbed, self destructive cry baby." he said pointedly. "be fucking careful around her, or on god's name i will-"

"okay jesus, shut up before you wake adore up." matt said back quickly. "i get it, you see me as a threat. i'll leave adore alone for god's sake." he said and left the room before roy could give a cold response.

when matt walked downstairs, he saw violet eating at the kitchen. he smiled to himself, "i thought you were sleeping."

violet turned around, jumping at the sudden presence in the room. "and i thought you were having a threesome."

matt rolled his eyes and walked over to violet, stealing a chip from the bag she was eating out of. "nah, roy hates my guts."

violet did a double take, "what really? he seemed fine with everyone, especially you. are you sure matt?"

"well if he threatened me and told me that adore would never love me and he wants me to stay away from her, something tells me i'm not his favorite person." matt concluded.

violet frowned, "oh, i'm sorry matt. i know how much adore means to you. he's only gonna be here for the weekend, i talked to bonnie about it."

matt shrugged, "it's fine. i respect roy's piece and i think he's right."

violet hit matt's shoulder, "don't say that matt, you know that's a lie." 

matt winced, but took it anyway. "i'll do something about it, it's fine."

"and what are you gonna do, smart one?" violet asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"leave." matt said and grabbed his keys from his pocket to prove his point while he headed towards the door.

"be serious matt. i saw how pissed she was when you left her to 'talk on the phone'. imagine how pissed she's gonna be when you straight up leave her tonight." violet said and got up to follow matt.

"if you care that much, then make up an excuse for me. i'm fucking leaving, violet. roy doesn't want me here and i have no say in this. i'm. leaving." matt said and opened the door to outside, "goodbye." he said and went to his car so he could drive home.

matt checked his phone, seeing a text light up from some girl he hooked up with a month or so ago.

 

?: you still chasing the new girl?  
m: nope  
?: pity. i'm home alone and i'm bored :(  
m: that's sad  
?: yeah. i have some whiskey and weed if you wanna come over?  
m: what's in it for me?  
?: i'm horny too  
m: omw

 

matt wasn't one to be very spiteful, but he was pretty pissed over the adore situation. he was stuck in a hole and couldn't get out. he had to get his mind off adore, off adore and roy. so he'll slip into his old ways for a night or so. it won't do any harm.

but as matt drove, his pent up jealousy and anger only built up. how could roy say such rude things when he knew how much adore cared about him?

how could matt be okay with the little things roy did for adore. like when he'd put his hand on her knee and rub his thumb on her inner thigh. or when he'd put his arm around her waist and pull her closer when he saw someone look. 

matt drove faster, yelling in frustration and turned up the radio louder. "god, fuck!" he yelled and started to slow down before he got in a wreck or something. maybe adore did change him, but was it really for the better?

 

[the next morning]

violet didn't really get much sleep since she's been worrying about how matt would be handling everything on his own. it was a bit weird seeing him show emotions like spite and anger again, since he's been on cloud nine ever since adore entered the picture.

so, when adore and roy came downstairs, violet looked up and waved at them happily. "good morning," she called sweetly.

"morning." adore replied and yawned, rubbing her eye as she looked in the living room. "where's matt?" she asked, her face dropping.

violet shrugged, "he left last night." she said, not caring enough to make a cover for him since it was his own choice to leave and be bitter. "i heard his car start and it woke me up, but i went back to sleep." she said, lying about trying to stop him at least.

adore's heart sank and she looked at roy, then to violet. it was clearly visible how bothered she was. "are you sure he left? he told me that he would stay the night so i can see him in the morning and so i can make him breakfast." adore said and nervously played with the scrunchie on her wrist. "did he really leave?"

"pretty sure, yeah." violet said, and it really did break her to see adore this upset over matt leaving. "i'm sorry, chick."

adore shook her head and took a deep breath to compose herself. "no, it's fine," she said and smiled, looking up and kissing roy on the cheek before walking to the kitchen, "how does everyone like their eggs?"

 

a: matt??  
a: why the hell did u leave  
a: did i do something?  
a: did something happen?  
a: answer my calls, i called u like six times  
a: hello??  
*sent

*incoming message from: unknown*  
?: matt's busy lmao  
a: doing what?  
?: me.  
*read

 

[monday]

adore was pissed nonetheless. she (temporarily) blocked matt on all of her social media so she wouldn't get any dms from him, but blocked the unknown number.

she let everyone know that she wouldn't be talking to matt today, so she'd temporarily separate herself from the group. adore woke up earlier so she could leave before matt came to pick her up. she didn't put any makeup on and threw her hair in a pony tail, she was tired and it showed.

so when she arrived to school, it was even scarier than her first day. she wasn't gonna talk to anyone in fear that she'd steal matt's friends. even though they were her friends too, she knew that matt had more of a history with them anyway.

adore sat under her locker in the morning so she'd be alone and unbothered. she was lowkey pissed at matt, so she was going to ghost him back if that's how matt wanted to play it. 

that didn't last for five minutes though, because the first person to find her was matt, who looked worried sick.

"adore? where the hell have you been? why haven't you answered my damn texts?" he asked, looking pretty pissed.

adore looked up, her glare ruthless. she stood up and slapped matt's cheek, but not that hard. "where have i been? where the hell have you been?! you fucking left me in the dust friday night and went to have sex with some girl? just because i made it clear that i'm not available to fuck you?" she said angrily. "matt, you're fucking disgusting!"

matt suddenly felt smaller when adore yelled at him. he almost felt like a dog getting yelled at. bad dog, bad dog. matt almost didn't want to speak up because of his fear that adore would slap him again.

"you don't have anything to say? life isn't about you. you're not fucking david bowie, a life of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll isn't going to pass. fuck you matt, i can't believe-!" adore went on, but got cut off when someone physically grabbed her and pushed her back. she angrily turned around and saw it was just shane.

"adore, let's go. it's not worth it." shane coaxed, which only made adore angrier.

"let me go!" adore snapped and pushed herself away from shane. she turned to matt, her cold stare the same. "don't fucking talk to me." she said and spun on her heel to walk away from matt. she only took a few steps before turning around to look at shane, "you coming?" she asked.

"yeah, yeah." shane said and gave a last look to matt before catching up with adore and following her back to the lobby, leaving matt by himself.

 

"it can't be that bad, right?" matt asked while he was in the cafeteria during lunch. he grabbed a pre-made salad and a carton of juice while standing beside kurtis, hoping for a statement of agreement.

"dude listen, it's that bad. i don't know if she's on her period or what, but she's pissed. i heard her talking about it to trixie and katya earlier and she was pretty damn heated. she's really pissed about you leaving to hook up with some girl." kurtis said. "i don't know if you should sit at the table if she's gonna be sitting there. i mean, it's not just adore. there's a few people that are pretty disappointed with you in the group." 

matt sighed and shook his head, looking genuinely upset. "i mean, shit. i wish i could apologize to her, but i don't even know what i would say." 

"honestly, it might be best if you leave adore alone and let her come to you, you know how girls are." kurtis said.

"but adore isn't just a girl, she's different, kurtis. she's more understanding, patient, witty, beautiful. she really means a lot to me and i don't want it to be thrown away because of a petty mistake i made in the heat of the moment. roy was fucking intimidating. especially when he told me to piss off from adore, so what did i do? run in fear and went back to my old habits." matt said, trying to get kurtis to understand his hurt.

they both paid for their lunches and went out to the tables together, still talking. "look man, i know how you feel about adore, we've been over this plenty. it's best if you don't talk about it at the lunch table and just own up to your shit." kurtis said, looking around for adore. he stopped when he spotted her, "oh no.." he mumbled to himself, realizing where adore was sitting, but not knowing if she realized the mistake she was making.

"what?" matt asked and stopped as well, looking around.

"nothing, let's go." kurtis said and pushed matt forward to sit down at the lunch table, discarding the plan where matt talks first. "guys, i know we're being soft on adore right now, but did anyone tell her to stay the fuck away from that lunch table?" he asked.

"what? where is she sitting?" ben asked and looked around, his eyes landing where he wishes they wouldn't have. his face looked remorseful like kurtis's, and everyone just pried them more, asking what it was.

"guys," kurtis said, pointing in the direction. "adore's sitting with willam and her group. don't you know their reputation?"

"yeah, katya once got hung up with them, remember?" trixie said, looking at her girlfriend who was making a sympathetic face.

"who could forget?" shane added rhetorically.

"wait!" matt said, "what's so bad about willam and her little gang? i'm confused." he finished.

everyone looked at katya, who was expected to explain it. "listen, matt. willam's a bad person to be around, especially if adore is someone who gets impulsive when she goes through shit. willam's family is rich and they're never around, so she does whatever the hell she wants. she does some heavy ass drugs, man. not weed or anything like some of us. she does shit like mushrooms, cocaine, meth, heroin- anything that she can get her hands on, she'll abuse it. i fell into the whole, but trixie got me out. if willam lured adore in, she's not in a safe environment." katya explained. "try to text or call her, if all goes wrong see if her mom would do anything. adore doesn't need this shit just because she feels like her friend betrayed her. especially when we all know you two are gonna make up in less than a week or two."

matt was speechless, not knowing how the hell he should respond to that. it took him a few seconds, but he processed it eventually. "so we gotta get adore out of that mess before she gets in too deep?" he asked.

"i mean, she won't listen to you. i can try talking to her?" violet offered, knowing how stubborn adore could be.  
matt nodded, "if we all at least try, i'm sure we can at least get her attention."

 

m: hey adore i know u don't wanna talk to me rn, but can we sort things out?  
m: i was being stupid and acting on impulse  
m: i didn't wanna hurt you  
m: you gotta believe me  
m: adore answer me  
m: i won't stop texting u, please adore  
*read  
m: ADORE  
m: okay at least i know you're okay   
m: are you okay?  
m: would u kill me if i came over?  
m: actually i won't take that chance. text me when you're ready to talk  
m: everyone's been trying to get ahold of you too  
*read  
m: i miss you  
*! not delivered  
m: did u seriously block my number?  
*! not delivered

 

[thursday, after school. day before homecoming]

adore was a wreck, but she wouldn't admit it. the anniversary of her father's passing was coming up and her and roy have been in a bit of a fight ever since he left for the airport. she dyed her hair black and she's been stoned more than she'd like to admit. she contemplated cutting her hair, but she stuck to only the dye. thankfully.

but it was okay, she was hanging out with violet at the moment, who was really the only person she's been talking to from matt's friend group. 

"hey vi?" adore asked, looking up from her phone to look at the dark haired girl sitting at the other end of her bed.

"yes?" she answered.

"homecoming is tomorrow," adore said.

"i know," violet responded. "and?"

"matt was supposed to be my date but i kindaaa blocked him and i'm not ready to talk to him yet. i'm waiting until tuesday."

violet chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "why tuesday?" she asked curiously.

adore shrugged, "i was thinking monday but it seemed too soon so i'm sticking with tuesday until i let him talk to me."

"you know he still drives pass your house every morning and waits five minutes for you? you're torturing the poor guy, adore." violet said.

adore immediately looked back at her phone so she could ignore violet's reasoning. "but i don't care." she said and rubbed her eyes.

violet looked at her and tilted her head to the side in confusion and curiosity. "adore?"

"yeah?" she asked, looking up.

"your eyes are red," violet observed. "are you fucking stoned? is that why you smell like weed?"

adore looked down and let her hair fall in her face to cover it up hopefully, "i was hanging out with willam this morning, it's fine."

violet sighed and shook her head, "it kinda isn't."

 

[the next day, pre-homecoming]

"how do i look?" matt asked as he turned to kurtis. they agreed to meet up before going to take pictures with the group at the park. it was something they did every year. 

"gay. how do i look?" kurtis asked, giving a charming smile.

"even gayer." matt answered and chuckled. "let's go," he said and grabbed his car keys and went out the door, which kurtis followed with no problem.

once they were in the car, kurtis looked at matt and contemplated for a moment, but blurred out his question anyway. "so, adore. have you and her talked?" he asked.

matt tensed automatically, but relaxed a bit after realizing that he did tense up. "nope, hasn't even looked at me."  
"so you're going solo?" kurtis asked.

matt shrugged, "i mean, i guess. i still have the corsage in the back seat, but something tells me she doesn't wanna see it."

"you know, violet convinced her to come take pictures with us. she said she won't do a picture with you, but she said that she'll go." kurtis added, "you gonna keep it together?" he asked.

"well duh, kurtis. i've been fine without her for a week now, i'm okay. i'm fucking great." matt said and started the car.

"something tells me that was a lie." kurtis added, but matt didn't respond.

 

matt looked at adore with a raised eyebrow. everyone knew she was energetic, but this was something else. she was almost living a few seconds in the future compared to everyone else, and she was almost too hyper. currently, she was jumping over the moon when shane mentioned that he liked her hair.

adore smiled, bouncing up and down on her heels. "really? i like it too, i don't know why i dyed it. actually i do, but i'm not gonna share it. you know how some people do shit with their hair when they're going through something major? or when they're having a mental breakdown? i mean i'm okay, i'm great. but i just thought i would mention that. black dye is hard to get out, you know that? it's okay, my natural color is brown. so i probably won't redo my roots. have you seen my dress? i look goth because everything is black. i mean, with my music taste-" adore yapped, her words coming out at a million miles per hour.

"-adore! we get it, you dyed your hair and you like it. it's quiet time." violet said, looking pretty irritated.

adore nodded and stayed quiet for maybe four seconds in total. "i feel like it is so hot out, is anyone else warm? i don't know, my dress is off the shoulder and and i think i'm sweating. oh my god, i am sweating. good thing i put on setting spray after i did my makeup. have you guys seen my makeup? i like it a lot, i really like it. i like the way-"

"adore!" violet snapped, looking at her. "shut it, how much fucking sugar did you eat today? calm down."

adore glared at violet when she yelled at her, crossing her arms but still bouncing up and down on her heels. she scratched her arm and huffed, seeming pretty irritable. she walked side to side for a moment to calm her nerves, but stopped once she didn't like it. she just went back to do all she wanted to do in the moment.

"violet, i know you don't want me to talk, but i really have to say something. i think your dress is so pretty. it's all purple and flow-y and it's so pretty. who did your hair? did you do that yourself? vi, your dress is really pretty, so pretty-"

"okay, we're leaving!" violet announced and took adore by the hand to drag her to the car. 

adore pulled her hand away aggressively and scratched her arm again, following violet even though she didn't want to. adore looked pretty aggravated, but she started talking again, only to be shushed by violet immediately.

the group was silent, they all just kinda watched adore do whatever she was doing. katya was the first one to speak up, "she got dropped off here by willam, you know." she pointed out, looking around. "if she's on something, she can get kicked out of homecoming since it's this obvious."

"adore wouldn't do anything like that, katya." matt said, looking at katya, glaring even. "she was probably on a sugar high or something, like violet said. adore wouldn't do dumb shit like that, okay. i know her."

"and adore knew you until you ditched her to be a man whore." katya clapped back, getting a slap on the arm from trixie.

matt huffed from his nose, "whatever then, i'm going. c'mon kurtis." he said and turned around to leave, being accompanied by kurtis.

 

homecoming looked fun, but matt stayed on the outside to watch over his friend group, and adore. what katya said was in the back of his head, but he wouldn't say anything. he watched as she danced with willam and the group. they all looked pretty dazed out, but some blondie and adore seemed to be the only hyperactive ones. possibly the difference between uppers and downers?

matt rubbed his eyes stressfully, shaking his head, not wanting to believe what was going on in front of his eyes, still in a lot of denial. he was about to get up and use the bathroom before he got approached by ben, who seemed to be a bit panicked and shaky. "matt, have you talked to adore?"

"no, why? are you alright, man?" matt asked worriedly, looking at ben carefully. he had looked like he's just seen a ghost.

ben shook his head, "man, you gotta do something. i have a friend who's talked to willam before, so he's a mutual friend. he said that willam told him to get adore's phone from her purse. when he went to adore's purse he found a bag."

"..what kind of bag?" matt asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"what kind of bag do you think matt? a fucking coke bag! a bag with powder, we fucking told you that willam wouldn't be good for adore to be around. adore's too gullible and she lets people choose for her." ben said.

matt's breath hitched and he shook his head. "man, are you sure? i don't think adore would-"

"get out of your head, man. believe it." ben said. "you gotta get her, she listens to you more than she does us. at least try.." he said before walking off.

matt crosses his arms and shook his head, looking at adore in the distance. she was telling everyone something before grabbing her purse and phone, walking out of the venue room to the smaller hallway, probably to use the restroom.

matt contemplated for a moment, shaking his head. "god matt, you'll regret this." he said and stood up, following adore's tracks so he could wait to catch her when she comes out of the bathroom.

he waited for maybe fifteen minutes, but he committed to stay there and wait. suddenly, the door opened to reveal a teen girl with black hair and a black dress exit. she stopped dead in her tracks. "can you fucking move?" she asked.

matt just took a step forward to establish what was going to happen. he looked closely at adore and he did a double take when he saw a bit of the white powder visible due to adore's dark lipstick choice. he was pretty disappointed, shaking his head and grabbing adore by the wrist. "i'm taking you home, adore." he announced and started walking.

"the hell you are!" adore yelled and tried to aggressively pull away, though matt refused to let go, only tightening his grip. adore struggled, but stood still, trying to release herself. "let me the fuck go, matthew! you're being a fucking dick-head!" she yelled, again. she just started screaming to draw attention, which just pissed matt off even more.

he turned to her and put his hand over her mouth, "adore, shut your fucking mouth. i have your mother's phone number and i'll call her right fucking now. we're leaving and you can't do anything. you're not going back to willam's tonight." he established, but it only poured gasoline into adore's fire.

adore just screamed louder, "let me go!" she said and started pulling back from matt. "someone fucking help!" adore yelled, and matt picked adore up and threw her over his shoulder easily, carrying her outside while he withstood her punching his back and kicking.

matt unlocked his car and placed adore in the front seat, closing the door and walking around to the drivers seat. once he sat down he locked the door and looked at adore, "if you didn't do stupid shit for no reason, you would be enjoying your homecoming. but since you're acting a fool, you're gonna have to go home." he said and started the car.

adore crossed her arms and bounced her foot absentmindedly, looking pretty pissed. it didn't hit her until a few seconds after matt started driving that she was being brought back home. "wait, matt. you can't take me home. drop be off at someone's house, in a ditch, i don't care. i can't fucking go home like this." she begged.

"who's fault is that? i'm taking you home, adore. you can't just expect me to give you no consequences because i have a soft spot for you. after this you can go back to your 'woe is me' state and ignore me. i'm fucking sick of you doing what you want and only what you want. you have to be considerate sometimes for the people that love you, christ." matt snapped, shaking his head while he was driving.

adore sat back and crossed her arms, biting her lip to ignore the quiver she tried to hold back. what matt said hit her harder than how it was intended, and only heard the negative. she covered her face with her hands and started crying right beside matt.

when he heard the first sob, matt looked over at adore and sighed. "fucking hell, adore.." he cursed and shook his head. "look, you'll be fine, your mom-"

"-i don't give a damn about how accepting my mom is! she's stressed enough as it fucking is, matt. you're better off not saying anything right now." she snapped harshly through tears.

and like that, matt was quiet. he finally got to their road and drove passed adore's house. he contemplated dropping her off anyway as a lesson, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. he continued driving until he got to his house, pulling in the driveway and parking the car, looking at adore. "look, my mom works early in the morning so she's fast asleep right now. you'll be fine." matt said and unlocked the car for adore before getting out.

adore sniffled and tucked a side of her hair behind her ear, grabbing her purse and getting up. she followed behind matt, stumbling a bit on her way up matt's porch, but she made it okay. she knew it was best to cooperate for now, especially since matt spared her from her mom. once she got inside his house, adore took off her heels and closed the door, walking downstairs to matt's room behind him.

matt turned around when he saw adore walk into his room. "you're gonna go to fucking bed, adore." he said and lead her into his actual bedroom, opening one of his drawers to throw her a pretty big shirt to sleep in. "i'm sleeping on the couch, stay in there." he said.

adore nodded and caught the shirt. she didn't want to talk to matt at the moment, since she was still pretty pissed at him she closed the door and took off her pretty dress and changed into the sleeping clothes. adore went to the bathroom to wash off her makeup as well before finally lying down in matt's bed. she rubbed her eyes, feeling the tears sting her eyes for the second time tonight. she closed her eyes and let the tear fall onto the pillow while she curled up her body into a fetal position. nothing went right tonight, but the only thing she had going for her was smelling matt's sheets- she unadmittedly did miss him.

matt let adore do whatever in his room, as long as she'd fall asleep. he sighed to himself and got a blanket from the closet and went to lie down on the couch. once he got comfortable, he pulled out his phone to see how many people blew up his phone. messages from everyone, someone even made a group chat. everyone asking where adore was, saying that they heard screaming, asking where he was. matt responded to the group chat with one message before going to bed.

 

m: everything's okay. i caught her coming out of the bathroom and busted her for giving onto willam's shit. she screamed and fought, but i took her back to my place and she's fine and safe. i'll give an update tomorrow, see you later guys!

 

[next morning.]

adore woke up to the sunlight peeking through the curtains in matt's room. she groaned and sat up, hissing when all the blood rushed to her head at once. "ahh, fuck." she whispered and grabbed her head, forcing herself to lie back down. she looked to the side and saw a bottle of ibuprofen and a water bottle, with a small note that read 'come to the kitchen'. 

adore braces herself as she sat up again, whining because of how her head is pulsing hard. she dumped the bottle and poured four painkillers in her hand and plopped them in her mouth. she opened the water bottle to wash them down and made a face at the taste that was still in her mouth. it tasted like chemicals in the way back of her throat, which was something that happened after snorting a line or two. "fuck this," she mumbled to herself, looking around matt's room. her eyes widened and she cursed to herself, remembering small things from last night.

all she remembered was the group taking photos together and violet snapping at her. everything was blurry after that, and the only other memory she had was of matt picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder while adore was fighting him off.

adore rubbed her eyes, trying desperately to remember anything else. she couldn't, she doesn't even remember how she got here. she just assumed matt forced her here.

adore stood up and took the water bottle with her, opening matt's bedroom door. in the living room, she spotted the blanket on the couch and could only assume that that was where matt had slept for the night. she went upstairs to go to the main floor of her friend's house, looking into the kitchen to find matt making breakfast. "hey," she spoke, her voice still a bit groggy. she cleared her throat and took a sip of her water, going to sit at the island.

matt turned his head when he heard adore, "hey there." he said and put a plate in front of her so she could eat. he took note of the distasteful look on her face. "not hungry?" he asked.

adore shrugged and rested her chin on her hand, "i don't think," she said honestly and looked at matt, there was a huge elephant in the room and she had no idea who was going to address it. "so uh, what happened last night?" she asked, swinging her legs on the bar stool she was sitting on.

matt turned off the stove and leaned against the island counter, "well do you want the soft truth or do you want the hard truth?" he asked.

"hard, tell me what happened." adore commanded.

"well, we all knew that you'd end up doing something stupid ever since you've been hanging around willam. ben's friend told us that he found a coke bag in your purse, and you've been acting all jittery so it made sense. i busted you when you came out of the bathroom and told you i was gonna take you home. you fought it and tried to yell and scream, so i took you to my car anyway. you begged me to take you somewhere else since you didn't want to face your mom and you cried for a bit. when we got here i practically locked you in my bedroom until you went to bed." he explained, being as short as he could.

adore nodded, taking it all in. she shook her head and rubbed her face stressfully. "look, i know we aren't on the best terms with each other, but thank you. i probably would've done some more stupid shit knowing me. i'm sorry for being a dumb bitch last night, and for the past week or so."

matt shook his head, "no, i'm sorry too. i was acting on impulse like you did and it was pretty dumb of me. i shouldn't have left, but roy said shit that pissed me off and i just went back to the shit i used to do before you came and lowkey fixed me, yknow? anyway, i'm sorry for being kinda cold."

adore nodded and bit her lip at the mention of roy's name, feeling it quiver. "no, it-it's okay. he-" she tried, but cut herself off, looking down. 

matt studied adore's body language and caught on immediately, "he broke up with you, didn't he? is that why you were upset in general?" 

adore nodded again and looked up to prevent herself from crying. "he- he wasn't that nice about it either." she said and sniffled.

matt frowned, "oh, i'm sorry." he said apologetically. he held his arms open to offer a hug. "c'mere, adorable." he said.

adore hesitated for a moment, but slid off the barstool and took a step forward to matt, hugging him. she always felt so comfortable and safe when matt hugged her, it felt nice. she felt a little more loved every time he held her. 

"adore, you can cry to me, i'm always gonna be your best friend. what did he say to you?" matt asked, looking down at her carefully.

adore let out a sob and held onto matt a bit tighter. "when i drove him back to the airport, he wouldn't really talk to me. i didn't know what it was, but we had sex earlier that morning and i made breakfast for him. and in the car, he kinda just ignored me and was on his phone. i was gonna stay with him before he boarded the plane, but he insisted that i'd go. i went to kiss him, but he pulled away. once he got home, he- he texted me and said it all." adore said and pulled an arm away from matt so she could wipe away her tears. 

matt tried his best to comfort her, and he let adore vent all she wanted. he ran his hand through her dark hair, listening to her as she explained everything.

"he said that he's been cheating on me since the night i left and he said he didn't feel guilty. he told me that he's content knowing that you and i aren't talking anymore. then he told me good luck finding someone who'll love a baby who still cries about her daddy issues." adore finished and only cried harder, almost shaking with how much she was overworking herself. "and the anniversary of my dad was this week, so it hit harder than it would've." she said and pulled her arm away so she could dry her tears once again.

"adore, it's okay." matt said and moved one of his hands from adore's hair to wipe the tears from down her cheek gently. "listen, i love you, okay? no matter what happens, you're always my best friend. i don't care who gets in the way, i'm always gonna look out for you. if roy wants to be a douche for no reason, then that's his own fault. he's missing out on a really amazing girl, to be honest." he said genuinely, giving adore a small smile to let her know that he's being serious.

adore sniffled and leaned her head into matt's hand, closing her eyes. "thank you, matt." she said genuinely, opening her eyes to look at him. "i needed to hear that." she said and chuckled. adore went on her tip toes to kiss matt's forehead sweetly. "you're really amazing, matty. you know that?" 

matt chuckled and ruffled adore's hair playfully. "thanks, i like your hair. it suits you well. you look emo as hell." he joked.

adore squealed and pushed matt's hand away, fixing her hair. "you missed my emo phase!" she said in realization. "listen, the eighth grade really was something. if i heard my chemical romance, fall out boy, or pierce the veil i'd act all emo and lock myself in my room and pretend that i'm a sufferer." she said with a laugh. "you should've been there to make fun of me. i'm sure my mom can find pictures."

matt laughed, almost losing his breath with how much he's been laughing over it. he took a breath and playfully hit adore's shoulder. "are you serious?? you can't be, did you really have an emo phase, bitch?" 

"yes!" adore said, laughing along with matt, completely forgetting about her problems that she's been talking about and just living in the moment with her best friend. "listen, you missed a lot of phases." 

"i'd imagine," matt replied. "i know you've had a long week. i can drop you off at home and you can get cleaned up. then maybe i can get you ice cream or something?" he offered.

adore's eyes sparked and she nodded at the request. "that sounds lovely! it also sounds like you're asking me out on a date nonchalantly." she said and nudged matt's side. "let me get my stuff from your room." she said and took off to go downstairs.

matt smiled and shook his head fondly at adore's teasing words. he followed her downstairs so he could get his phone and keys to take her out. "ready?" he asked when he saw adore still in his shirt, her dress and shoes in hand with her purse over her shoulder.

adore nodded happily and walked forward to meet up with matt.

"i'm not getting that shirt back, am i?" he asked.

"nope!" adore said and smiled sweetly, walking upstairs, knowing matt would follow her.

matt sighed and kept the smile on his face while he grabbed his phone and keys, going upstairs behind adore. 'this girl will be the death of me,' he thought to himself.

 

v(iolet): matt is adore okay? you never texted anyone after your update last night   
m: she's fine yeah, i promise. she's been upset over more than just me. long story short roy broke up with her in a pretty rude way.   
v: so no more fight?  
m: no more fight, we're all okay. i'm taking her for ice cream lmao   
v: ooo get it  
m: it's not like that vi wtf  
v: surreeeeee  
m: go suck a dick  
v: u don't have to tell me twice

 

adore got a shower, got dressed in regular clothes, and did her makeup before going downstairs. it took her maybe an hour in total, but matt was close enough to her mom where they can talk without a problem. when she came downstairs, she saw her mother showing matt things from her phone. "mom, what are you doing?" she asked flatly.

"showing matt pictures of you," bonnie answered.

matt looked at adore and winked to show it was okay. "you look really cute in the eighth grade, i'm sure you got all the boys."  
adore giggled and walked over, "oh shut it, at least i didn't look that bad. i looked kinda hot in some of those pictures." she defended. she rested her chin on matt's shoulder, looking over at her mother's phone.

bonnie chuckled at how close the two teens seemed to be. "you seem to be forgetting about roy." she said coyly, causing adore to blush.

"are you insinuating that i like matt?" adore asked and physically separated herself from matt.

bonnie shrugged, "i don't know, am i?" she asked.

adore huffed, "i'm leaving." she announced, patting matt's shoulder so he could follow.

"bye, mrs. noriega!" matt called with a smile, thinking that adore's embarrassment was pretty damn cute. he caught up to adore and nudged her playfully. "your face is all red."

"no, it is definitely not." adore responded, looking forward as she walked to matt's car.

matt chuckled, "it definitely is, but you can deny it if it makes you feel all big and powerful. i don't judge."

adore sighed dramatically, "i fucking hate you, matthew." she said and pulled the handle on the passenger side so she can get in the car.

"dairy queen?" matt asked once he got in the car, looking at adore who seemed to be over her little diva moment. 

adore nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, "yeah, that'd be great."

 

[timeskip. mid-late october, halloween party. katya's house]

everyone's been perfect, there was no more misunderstandings or little drama moments. adore has stayed away from willam, and that's all the group could ask for. 

adore and matt have been pretty close lately, closer than they usually are (if that's even possible). they've all had a fair share of teasing the two about either dating or liking each other. adore and matt weren't awkward about it at all, and always went with the joke. even though everyone knew they had a thing for each other. 

katya invited adore to her usual halloween party this year, which everyone had always enjoyed. more than just the usual friend group showed up, so it was a little more to handle. the cliques always found each other, though.

adore was playing truth or dare with a few people she knew and a few she didn't know. well, she knew everyone- she just didn't talk to everyone. in the circle was her, kurtis, matt, ben, violet, naomi, sharon, justin, and jose. a weird mix of people, but it was fun.

violet had just taken her hair out of her pony tail for a dare, so it was now her turn to ask. she scanned the circle and her eyes landed on adore and matt. 

adore looked absolutely irresistible in her costume, it should make the other girls here envy her. she was wearing a little red dress with black fishnets and red stilettos. her hair was a bit messy, but that was probably the sex look she was going for. she had her devil horn headband, and her makeup done to match the costume aesthetic.

in similarity, adore made matt dress up like a devil with her so she would be able to take cute pictures with him. he wore black pants with a dark red button up that was similar to the color of adore's dress. the first few buttons were undone and he had an untied black bow tie around the collar. to top it off, of course, he wore the devil horns. 

violet looked at ben, almost needing approval for the dare she was about to give- in case it was too much. she whispered in his ear, and ben's reaction said it all.

"violet, you gotta do it. it'd be the cherry on top of everything." ben whispered, and adore raised an eyebrow from across the circle.

violet nodded and adverted her gaze to adore, a smug look on her face. "adore, truth or dare?" she asked.

adore didn't put thought into anything since her answer was the same for everyone, "dare." she said, always wanting a challenge.

"i want you to put on a show for us, but mainly for matt." violet said, pointing to a chair across the room. "i dare you to go give matt a lap dance for five minutes." she said, getting encouragement from around her immediately. adore and matt were pretty attractive, so undoubtedly, people wouldn't mind seeing it.

"okay, sure." adore said and got up, looking at matt expectantly.

"i don't have a say in this?" matt asked, looking taken aback by how drastic the date seemed to be.

"we all know you want it, don't act that way!" kurtis yelled.

matt rolled his eyes and got up, walking to the chair across the room and sitting down. he looked at adore, who was fixing her hair instead of walking to matt. 

"good luck man, we've all seen the way adore can dance." ben said, earning a glare from matt and chuckles from the circle.

"y'all know the rules, matt- you can't touch adore unless she makes you. everyone has to be quiet." violet reminded.

adore chuckled as she walked over to matt, "oh please, i'm not stupid. i'm sure matt knows the rules too, he's been around." she said with a wink. "sit up, arms behind the chair." adore commanded. "time starts," she said and turned around to make sure violet started the timer.

matt followed instructions and sat up a bit since he was slouching. he put his arms behind the chair and looked to adore. his heart was racing, and he knew he wouldn't survive this stupid lap dance. he'll have to go to the bathroom right after since he already knows his hormones are going to react fast.

adore brushed her hair over behind shoulders and leaned down to put her finger underneath matt's chin. she lifted his face slowly, so their eyes would meet. 'you're fine,' she mouthed to him, amused by how tense he looked. 

matt looked up at her, letting himself relax and just watch adore. he's fine, he's fine.

adore slowly sat up and circled the chair, brushing her fingers against matt's shoulders. she slowly went lower to his chest as she made her full circle and stood in front of him. she lowered her body as she sat herself down on top of matt in one swift and smooth movement, keeping things a bit slow and sensual.

adore started from matt's lower abdomen and moved her hands up to his neck. she then started to grind down slowly, keeping a personal metronome in her head so she wouldn't fall out of her rhythm. 

adore kept it like that for a few moments before she started to lean back as she kept slowly, painfully, grinding down on matt's lap. she moved one of her hands to use as support on matt's knee when she leaned back away from him. 

she snapped back after a few moments, damn near putting her tits in matt's face. maybe it was intentional, adore is full of fun secrets. adore moved her hand from his knee to his chest. she then leaned forward as if she was about to kiss matt, letting their lips be inches away until she pulled back last minute to tease him just a bit more. 

adore easily got up from his lap and stood between matt's legs. she put her hands on matt's thighs as she lowered herself on the ground in front of matt to make her head closer to his crotch, knowing exactly what she was doing. her hands slowly moved up his thighs, and the look on matt's face said it all in the moment.

"time!" violet said and adore got up from the ground, turning around like it was nothing.

"piece of cake." adore said and offered her hand to help matt out of the chair. once matt got up, she kept ahold of his hand and pulled him closer to whisper in his ear. "you go now, but i'll meet you in the upstairs bathroom in five." she said.

matt was confused, but he nodded and left the truth or dare circle to go upstairs, leaving them behind.

adore went back to sit down, "i told him to get my phone." she lied easily and smiled. "okay, sharon! truth or dare?" she asked.

"dare, duh." sharon replied like it was nothing.

"i dare you to make out with justin." adore said and stood up right after saying it. "sorry to leave the game, but matt's taking long. see y'all later!" she said and left the room, going upstairs.

she went to the bathroom, knowing katya's house easily. adore knocked on the door three times, looking up with doll eyes when matt had opened the door for her. "be fucking quiet." she ordered and stepped in, shutting and locking the door behind her.

"what's this about?" matt asked, looking at adore with slight confusion. 

"oh, don't act like you don't fucking know." adore said. "they gave me that dare on purpose so we both can suffer."

"suffer?" matt asked, his heart aching. was he just friend zoned? did adore not like him like how she's been hinting at lately.

"yes, suffer! they wanted to see you all hot and bothered by me, and they wanted to see me all over you, matt. all it did was make me wanna kiss your stupid face more. and i'm not gonna look down at your pants, because i'm pretty sure they're tighter than they should be in that area. i've been mad at myself for how long for being attracted to you, and now it's worse because now i'm really sexually attracted to you. i'm so-" adore rambled, but got cut off abruptly when she left matt's lips on hers.

matt knew what she was trying to say, and figured he'd shut her up before she let herself overthink anymore. that's why his first instinct was to kiss her to shut her up.

they both needed this, there was so much tension between them for the past week or two, and it just got worse every day. adore kissed back, bringing her hand up to matt's cheek while they kissed. adore parted her lips slightly to leave matt an invitation to go further.

matt didn't mind following her thoughts as he ran his tongue across her bottom lip before finding his way to adore's mouth. adore sighed into the kiss, pressing herself closer to matt's body as she felt like she was on cloud nine. she was the first to slowly pull away from the kiss after a moment or so, catching her breath. she glanced in the mirror, glad she wore matte lipstick since it was still applied as it was before. 

adore glanced down and looked at the bulge in matt's pants, knowing that she's just made it worse. she looked up at matt and moved her hands down further. she put one of her pointer fingers around the waistband of matt's pants. "matt, it'll be okay if i did you a favor?" she asked and bit her lip in anticipation.

matt nodded, not taking much thought to it. "god, yeah. please." he replied.

adore sunk down to her knees and tucked her hair behind her ears before unbuttoning matt's pants and pulling them down a bit with his boxers. she cursed to herself in her head, not thinking that matt would be that big. "god, matt." she mumbled and stopped stalling, knowing that people were already on their case about being together. they had just disappeared together after being sexually set up, so people would catch on.

adore put a hand around the base of matt's cock as her tongue swirled around the tip. at this point, he was damn near being fully hard, so it wouldn't take too long. adore closed her eyes and just went with it, opening her mouth and wrapping her lips around his tip. 

adore's warm mouth was just enough to make matt already want more. he noticed that her long, dark hair was becoming annoying to her when she used her other hand to brush it away. matt grasped adore's hair, pulling it out of her face in the process. adore muffled a moan at the feeling of her hair getting pulled and started bobbing her head down the shaft of matt's cock, making it look damn near effortless.

matt bit his lip to hold back a moan, in case people were close enough to hear them. "fuck, adore. keep going," he encouraged and tugged her hair again due to the positive reaction it had gotten last time. 

adore hummed, only gradually going deeper and using her mouth for the better. she let her tongue brush against the bottom of matt's shaft and used her bigger lips to an advantage. she removed her hand from the base since she was getting further. she was so close, and her throat was already not happy with her for how far she was pushing the limit.

matt only said more sweet, encouraging words to adore, knowing that it'll only keep her going. adore had matt whole, and she gagged slightly when she had matt all the way in her mouth. which, matt only found hotter. "i'm close," he cautioned.

adore heard every word he was saying, hoping that matt caught on with that. she kept her streak going, refusing to pull back any more now that she practically hit the goal. with that being said, it wasn't long before matt came with a groan, releasing the tension by pulling on adore's hair. she pulled back and swallowed, coughing a bit. "fuck," she cursed, her throat already sounding pretty damn wrecked as she fixed matt's pants and buttoned them herself. 

when she stood up, she felt light headed for a second or so before finally coming to her senses. adore looked in the mirror and ran her fingers under her eyes to clear the tears that were formed. her lipstick was a bit smudged, but it was more obvious with her swollen lips rather than her unblended lipstick.

matt stepped forward and pulled adore into an embrace. "you okay, sweetheart?" he asked.

adore nodded, looking up at matt. "i wanna go, can we finish this at your house?" she asked almost immediately.

"i mean, yeah, but it's gonna look pretty obvious if we leave together." matt pointed out.

"no it won't. i'll tell katya you're my ride and you have to drop me off at home because my mom said there's a family emergency." adore said. "then you'll just say that you didn't come back to the party because everything was hectic at my house and you wanted to help." 

"that's a pretty solid plan," matt said honestly.

"i know, let's go." adore demanded and took matt's hand. she opened the bathroom door and peered out into the hallway, noticing it was clear. she sighed in relief and walked downstairs with matt, letting go of his hand. she spotted katya easily, she was in the kitchen. though she was accompanied by trixie, and trixie loves to bust their balls about dating. oh well.

matt and adore walked over to them, and adore smiled sweetly at katya, "hey, i have to go early. my mom just called me and there's some shit going on in my family, so i gotta get home to help my mom figure everything out. matt's my ride, so he's gonna take me home. the party was so much fun-"

trixie laughed, not buying it for a second. "honey, i'm not stupid. violet told us about your dare and said that you two disappeared. manila told us that she saw you two go upstairs after another."

adore huffed, "i don't know why matt went upstairs, but i had a phone call that i had to take. when i went to the bathroom, matt was there so i told him what happened. trixie, nothing is going on between us."

"okay, anyway. we gotta go, i can't wait for your christmas party!" matt said and walked off. adore gave them a smile and a quick hug goodbye before running after matt.

once they got outside, adore held matt's hand and giggled. "is your mom home?" she asked, swinging their hands as they walked to the car.

matt shook his head, "no, i told you yesterday that she was on a business trip for the weekend." he said, smiling when he heard adore's giggle. sue him, it was cute.

"oooh, you did tell me. i forgot." she admitted and opened the car door once they reached to matt's car. once matt got in and started the car, adore shut off the radio and cracked the car window. 

matt put down his window a little as well, backing out of katya's driveway so he could start the drive back to his house. 

once they got on the road, adore stayed silent for a few moments. she looked over at matt and smiled to herself. she reached over to hold his hand, taking it away from the steering wheel. that lasted for a few minutes at the most before adore opened her mouth again. "i'm singing at the cafe on monday, you know." 

"yeah, i know." matt said and smiled. "everyone's going, i was there when you got the call that you were scheduled." he said.

"oh yeah, i forgot." adore said for the second time tonight. "i'm excited, and nervous. mostly excited." she said restlessly.

matt chuckled at how excited adore got overt the smallest of things. "why would you be nervous? you've performed there about three times now."

"oh, i'm nervous for a few other reasons. or just for one main reason. anyway, i'm sorry with how forward i've been being tonight. i just don't wanna fuck things up." adore said, glancing at matt.

"oh, please. you're just fine." matt told her honestly and smiled to comfort her. he eventually stopped at the stop sign, but before he could go again since there were no cars, adore sat up to kiss his cheek. once he turned to look at her, adore went in again to kiss his lips. 

she closed her eyes and held matt's cheek softly. she would take things further, but they did have to follow traffic safety, so she pulled away and sat back in her seat. "you know, i really like you, matt." adore said and looked out the window.

"yeah? well i really like you too." matt said and started driving again.

 

[monday, at school. lunch.]

"matt, if you keep being a dumbass, you're gonna spill that all over you." adore told him, gesturing to the fact that keeps splashing around his soda for no good reason.

"well what if i want to spill it on me?" matt questioned.

"all over your white shirt? sure, matt." adore replied.

"god, you two fight like an old married couple." shane complained, being dramatic as usual. 

"speaking of which, who's gonna be your maid of honor at your wedding when you and matt tie the knot?" katya asked adore curiously.  
adore scoffed, "you guys are literally insane. there's nothing going on between matt and i."

"except at the party when you blew him in the bathroom." trixie said.

adore's eyes widened and she looked at matt, then at trixie. "what do you mean?" she asked.

"i mean when i accused you just now, your face said it all. it's okay, we won't judge. so does matt have a big dick?" trixie asked, getting a light slap from katya.

adore chuckled, reaching over to matt's tray to take a sip from his soda before setting it back down. "i'm the wrong girl to ask, sadly."

"sadly! that means you wish you could've done something with him!" kurtis caught.

adore and matt both groaned at how pathetic they all sounded when they pressed the idea. "on a different note, i changed my set list for tonight, so there's songs that you've never heard me sing!"

"no matter what you sing, you're gonna sound flawless." violet commented.

"well duh, she's been performing like this for how long?" ben said rhetorically.

"you guys can see my mom again!" adore said happily, taking any opportunity to talk about her mom when she can.   
"we'll make sure to save her a seat." violet reassured.

 

[later that night at the cafe.]

they all picked a table to sit at together, bonnie included. it was shane, ben, katya, trixie, kurtis, violet, matt, and bonnie. when the word got around that adore would be performing, the cafe was always busier than usual. that made her friends proud, of course.

adore was making sure she looked fine in the mirror in the bathroom before walking out to the small stage with the guitar that was gifted to her on her birthday. she was wearing a black skater dress with black converse and a red flannel tied around her waist. she sat down on the stood and adjusted her mic. everyone turned to watch her, the cafe going quiet.

"hi guys," adore greeted in the mic and smiled, strumming her first note. the first song she played without introducing. it was a cover of back to black by amy winehouse. everyone was ready to listen to her damn near perfect acoustics. she played through her entire set of five other songs without any interruptions. she got to the last song, which was her original song that she always sang. 

"how many of you have someone to love?" adore asked in the mic, and a good portion of the room made some noise to answer her question.

adore giggled and strummed her guitar mindlessly "that's good, that's good." she said and looked down at her guitar for a moment. "for those who don't have anyone, it's okay. me too." she said, causing chuckles from the crowd.

"love is weird." adore said, just talking because she knew that people would listen. "but it's okay because i think i love someone right now." she said, and her friend's table went wild. they all said matt's name and pointed in his direction.

adore giggled and shook her head, "sorry about my friends, they keep pairing me with this one guy." she said, still strumming mindlessly as she talked. adore's eyes wandered over to matt and she smiled even wider. "it's okay though, because he's cute." she said and winked.

"enough rambling, this song is called i adore u, and it's the only original song that i've finished because i'm such a procrastinator. it's a problem." adore said and chuckled, starting to play the opening part.

~  
this is how it ends, never meant to hurt you  
i'm a pretty mess and i don't deserve you  
i ran out of time and second chances  
sorry couldn't build your white picket fences  
and i only got myself to blame  
'cause every time i see you, it's like all i am is see-through  
we were everything i know it, don't wanna miss it, record it  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
the falling out was easy, but i hate that you don't need me  
and it gets so hard to speak, every time you get to me  
'cause i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
everybody says that you're doin' fine now  
cruisin' for a thrill like i wouldn't find out  
when you turn it back, do you ever wonder  
if we could have tomorrow, in technicolor  
and i got so much left to say  
'cause every time i see you, it's like all i am is see-through  
we were everything i know it, don't wanna miss it, record it  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
the falling out was easy, but i hate that you don't need me  
and it gets so hard to speak, every time you get to me  
'cause i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
and no, can't you see it  
i adore you  
no, no, you're mine  
..i adore you  
'cause every time i see you, it's like all I am is see-through  
we were everything i know it, don't wanna miss it, record it  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
the falling out was easy, but i hate that you don't need me  
and it gets so hard to speak, every time you get to me  
'cause i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
i adore you  
~

adore finished the song and smiled at the applause it got. she ran a hand through her hair, her eyes sparkling. "wow, thanks!" adore said and giggled.

"before i go tonight, i have a confession to make." adore said, and paused to listen to the 'ooo's in the audience. she chuckled and shook her head.

"well i may be single right now, but i'm really hoping that by the end of tonight that isn't the case, because there may or may not be a boy here that i've liked for quite a bit now." adore said, not surprised when her friends' table erupted in inaudible cheers.

"jesus, quiet down." adore said and laughed. "anyway, they've been on my ass about it for a while now, and i guess the rumors are true." adore said and looked at matt with sparkling eyes.

"matty?" she said into the mic. "i love you so much, you know that? you've been my best friend since before i could remember. you really do make me a better person and you make my life so much more worth it when i'm around you, you know?" adore said, smiling when she saw the look on matt's face. "do you wanna maybe,, be my boyfriend?" she asked and bit her lip.

the table was, of course, the loudest out of everyone else's. they were all cheering on for matt, and matt was too busy laughing from everyone's reaction to give a proper answer. he looked up at adore, "yes!" he yelled from across the room. kurtis stood up and pushed matt out of his seat as well, pushing matt up to the end of the stage.

adore smiled happily when she got the answer she hoped for. "and i'm adore delano, thank you all for being so lovely tonight!" she said and set her guitar on the stand before standing up and hopping off the stage so she could get to matt. 

she immediately hugged matt and leaned up to kiss him, causing the cafe to cheer happily for them. adore smiled so much she had to pull away, looking at matt. "see why i was nervous? what if you said no?" she said.

"oh please, like i'd say no to you." matt said and kissed her again. adore kissed him back, putting her arms around his neck.

"i fucking called it!" trixie yelled and looked at katya, feeling accomplished.

adore pulled away and looked at matt with a sweet look. "hey matty?"

"yes adorable?" he asked.

"promise to never forget about me?" adore asked.

"i promise."


End file.
